News & analysis of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, by Matthew Stiegler

In a criminal appeal arising out of a stash house reverse sting, a divided panel reversed a defendant’s convictions for robbery and gun possession, holding that the district court erred in failing to instruct the jurors on entrapment, and specifically in weighing competing evidence in the government’s favor to deny the instruction. The majority also rejected the government’s harmless-error argument. It rejected the defendant’s argument that he was the victim of an outrageous prosecution violating due process.

Joining Nygaard was Hardiman; interestingly, Ambro dissented from the instruction reversal, and also expressed measured concerns about stash house reverse stings. Arguing counsel were Benjamin Yaster of Gibbons for the defendant and Mark Coyne for the government.

I expect a government petition for rehearing en banc and I’m certainly curious to see what happens.